Students build their understanding of weather and climate concepts by exploring several websites and online videos and completing a related worksheet. Students will examine NASA's role in both gathering weather and climate data and monitoring the...(View More) changes to each that are occurring globally. A link to each specific site, as well as the student worksheet, are included.(View Less)

Using the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server (LAS), students gather data on both solar radiation and surface temperature for two same-latitude locations. Students then create online graphs of that data to allow for analysis and comparison. This lesson...(View More) uses student- and citizen science-friendly microsets of authentic NASA Earth system science data from the MY NASA DATA project. It includes detailed procedures, analysis questions, teacher notes, related links, background information, lesson extensions, and a list of related AP Environmental Science topics.(View Less)

This short video (~2 minutes) explains how a raindrop falls through the atmosphere and why a more accurate look at raindrops can improve estimates of global precipitation. This information is important to scientists working on the Global...(View More) Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission - understanding the micro world of raindrops provides insight to scientists about the macro world of storms.(View Less)

This is a collection of mathematics problems relating to the moons of the solar system. Learners will use simple proportional relationships and work with fractions to study the relative sizes of the larger moons in our solar system, and explore how...(View More) temperatures change from place to place using the Celsius and Kelvin scales.(View Less)

Intended for use after viewing the Science on a Sphere film "Water Falls," this lesson deepens student's understanding of global precipitation measurement. Students will explore NASA satellite data gathered during Hurricane Sandy to learn how that...(View More) data was essential in helping scientists forecast its path and precipitation amounts. All background information, student worksheets and images/photographs/data are included in these downloadable sections: Teacher’s Guide, Student Capture Sheet, Assessment and PowerPoint Presentation.(View Less)

This toolkit was designed to help presenters - particularly scientists and engineers - easily present to elementary and middle school audiences and feel confident that the information they are presenting is developmentally-appropriate. The site...(View More) includes PowerPoint presentations on Earth's water cycle, with talking points and suggestions. Best practices are also included for elementary and middle school presentations that provide helpful suggestions before, during, and after the presentation, as well as a list of additional resources.(View Less)

As science extension activities, this book of problems introduces students to mapping the shape of the Milky Way galaxy, and how to identify the various kinds of galaxies in our universe. Students also learn about the shapes and sizes of other...(View More) galaxies in our universe as they learn how to classify them. The math problems cover basic scientific notation skills and how they apply to working with astronomically large numbers. It also provides exercises in plotting points on a Cartesian plane to map the various features of our Milky Way.(View Less)

The Cosmic Times Gallery Walk and Cosmic Times Jigsaw lessons serve as extensions to the Cosmic Times suite of curriculum support materials. They are intended to provide an introduction to Cosmic Times as a whole, giving students the larger picture...(View More) of how our understanding of the universe has changed over the last century. During the Gallery Walk lesson, students peruse the Cosmic Times posters to answer open-ended questions. During the Jigsaw lesson, students work in cooperative teams to understand the primary scientific advances over the past century that have contributed to our current understanding of the universe.(View Less)

This book introduces students to some of the most unusual places in our galaxy outside of our solar system. Answering the question, "How many stars are in the sky?" introduces students to basic counting, tallying, and grouping techniques, as well as...(View More) allowing for the use of simple proportions.(View Less)

This resource is designed to enable presenters (scientists, engineers, etc.) to easily present to an elementary and/or middle school audience and feel confident that the information they are presenting is developmentally appropriate and supports the...(View More) Next Generation Science Standards. A PowerPoint Presentation includes talking points and suggestions, a “Best Practices” document to offer helpful suggestion before, during, and after the presentation, and a list of additional resources that may be accessed by the speaker and/or the educator. This presentation is designed to take 30 to 45 minutes.(View Less)